It was silent apart from the gentle patter of raindrops. He could almost forget that he was pushing his way down a crowded sidewalk to get to the rideshare parking lot. Just as he did every weekday. However, instead of the usual sharp, pricking sensation along his skin caused by the bustle of a city street, the sound of a mild storm kept a firm but comforting pressure upon his shoulders.
When his sister had suggested the ridiculously expensive headphones, Kayne had scoffed and informed her that no other headphones had worked so far, why would these ones? But after a particularly rough week of prickling pain, he’d caved and bought the damn things. After his first day of rain in the sunshine, he’d come skipping into their shared apartment singing praises to the heavens. Rory had only given him that aggravating smug grin she’d perfected by the time they’d turned six.
His sister understood him on a level that not even their parents did. Being fraternal twins, it made sense his sister had figured out his strange ailment before their parents had. Rory had discovered quickly that unpleasant sounds caused equally unpleasant reactions in him. The clang of a pan was a smack to his cheek. The beep of the microwave would pinch the back of his thighs. Even as babies, Rory had figured out that her cries hurt him, as if someone were roughly tugging on his ears, so she did her best to not cry or whine. His sister would often shush their parents when they made certain sounds, and after she’d learned to speak she’d order them to not make a sound because it ‘hurt him’. They’d thought she was just being, well, a kid and brushed it off at first, but when she never let up, they’d finally decided to take him to a doctor. They’d never expected for the doctor to take it seriously, but after ordering some tests, his parents actually began to believe Rory’s words.
And so, at age five, Kayne had been diagnosed with synthesia.
It was an odd neurological condition where when one sense was stimulated, it caused another sense to be involuntarily stimulated as well. For Kayne that meant each sound caused some form of physical sensation, as if he were being touched.
It was frustrating on good days, and agonizing on worse days. There were very few pleasant sounds in this world. The rain seemed to be his only comfort when his sister’s voice wasn’t there to gently squeeze his left hand. And now that he had to be a productive member of society, he was once more forced to travel out amongst the common folk, just like his parents had forced him through public school. He was simply thankful that he’d be able to request to work from home soon. So he continued to suffer through these daily walks to and from the office in bitter silence.
Now though, now he could comfortably make this walk without being in constant pain. He even wore the headphones in the office to drown out the clacking of keyboards so his teeth wouldn’t ache. It had already been a week since he’d gotten these headphones, and he was still floating on air.
Not realizing he had a stupid grin on his face, Kayne stopped at the corner to wait for the light to change so he could cross. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught movement as someone came up to stand on his left. He glanced over and a pair of smoldering green eyes met his. The bearded face flashed him a grin in greeting, and Kayne found himself momentarily stunned. When was the last time someone had actually smiled at him in a friendly manner besides his overprotective sister? His ever-present scowl normally deterred people from making any friendly gestures. He felt the muscles in his face droop at his confusion, and the sensation shocked him enough that he stumbled in the middle of the crosswalk. He’d been smiling. Actually smiling. What the hell?
He was still pondering this crazy phenomenon as he wandered into the rideshare parking lot and slid into the back seat of his usual ride. Brows knit together, Kayne sucked in a suffering sigh as he pushed his headphones down around his neck.
“Heya Kayne,” the driver greeted. The slightly nasally voice tickled the back of his neck, and he rolled his head to dispel the sensation.
“Josh,” he muttered without looking up.
“We got a new rideshare partner, Nicholai,” Josh continued. “He’s the stop before you. ‘Kay?” Kayne blinked in surprise and glanced to his right where he found that same pair of green eyes appraising him. The man was… large. His hair brushed against the roof of the car, messing up the carefully swept back look, and his dark denim clad knees pressed into the back of the passenger seat. It looked like he should be uncomfortable, especially since one of his broad shoulders was pressed into the window in an effort to not take up any of the middle seat, but that grin hidden amongst the black beard said otherwise. They’d seemed to be the same height when they’d stood beside each other at the crosswalk, but he was easily twice as broad as Kayne, and he was no small man by any means.
“Hello Kayne.” Kayne startled, mortified to feel the heat flooding his cheeks. That sinfully deep voice caressed the inside of his right thigh, and he was positive he had felt callouses catch on his skin. Kayne could only nod in lieu of a hello before he looked out his window to hide his blush.
What in the fuck was that?! Not once, in a world full of sound, had anything caused that kind of sensation.
Josh confirmed Nicholai’s destination before rolling up the partition and beginning to pull out of the parking lot. The partition was why Kayne always used Josh as his driver. He never spoke more than a greeting and to confirm the address, so what was he supposed to do with another passenger? Kayne decided ignoring the bear of a man would be his best option, and shifted so most if his back was facing Nicholai as he stared out the heavily tinted window. There was blessed silence for a good five minutes, and then he spoke.
“So what is it that you do, Kayne?” Kayne shuddered as the phantom touch returned to the inside of his thigh, inching higher and higher with each word.
“Computer programmer,” he bit out, remembering to be polite.
“Ah,” he rumbled, “Very lucrative job.” There was a hint of a Russian accent Kayne noticed as his voice pressed into the crease between his thigh and balls. “I am no good with technology,” Nicholai continued, oblivious to the invisible force that was suddenly cupping Kayne’s sack. “It does not agree with me.” The voice gave a gentle, teasing roll and Kayne sucked in a sharp breath. “But you seem like you are knowledgeable in that area!” He said enthusiastically, which earned Kayne a more firm squeeze of the balls, and the sudden addition of delightful pressure around his hardening cock.
Good God! What the hell was happening?!
“Uh-huh,” he muttered, unable to say anything else.
It was blessedly silent for a moment, but then his companion asked, “Are you not the talkative type?” The question caused another simultaneous pump and squeeze that had Kayne shifting his hips as if to get away from the invisible grip.
“No,” he groused, wishing the man would shut up. It was embarrassing enough that this illusion of sensation was giving him a hard on!
Nicholai hummed softly, the sound causing what felt like a thumb to swipe across the head of his cock. He sucked his bottom lip in between his teeth to suppress a gasp of pleasure. “You are very red,” another pump of his shaft and swipe of the head, “Am I angering you?” He couldn’t stop the groan as the grasp on his balls shifted between his ass cheeks, brushing his perineum teasingly in the process.
Kayne shook his head in both frustration and as an answer to his question. “Not. Exactly.” He bit out the words from between clenched teeth.
The man hummed again, and Kayne jumped at the sudden touch circling his entrance. “Are you alright?” Kayne yelped when the words caused a phantom finger to dip into him. “No!” He snapped, whipping around to face the damnable man with blazing eyes. “Your voice is doing unspeakable things to me!”
His brows furrowed in confusion. “My voice,” he said slowly, the finger pressing in further, “is doing… things to… you?” Kayne nodded vigorously as the finger pulled out and pressed back in with what seemed like a second one. “How?” The question had the fingers curling inside him, and he mewled as they brushed his prostate.
“I have,” he panted, “synthesia. I feel… sounds.”
Nicholai cocked his head to the side. “So… my voice is a physical touch for you?” “Yes!” Kayne gasped, the fingers simultaneously pumping in and out as the pressure around his shaft squeezed.
Kayne didn’t notice the sly grin stretching across his companion’s face. “It seems to be,” Kayne yelped at the low timbre of the voice right in his ear, “pleasurable for you, yes?” The onslaught of phantom sensations, and the very real feeling of Nicholai’s hot breath dancing across his ear and neck made him shudder. Kayne couldn’t form any words to answer him, unsure if he even wanted to. “Answer me!” he barked. The rough, sudden command had Kayne crying out as the hands left him in favor for smacking both ass cheeks.
“Y-yes!” He cried shakily.
Nicholai growled low in his throat, the sound causing the hands to rub circles on his ass cheeks as the warm, blunt head of a cock pressed at his entrance. His eyes shot open wide and he frantically looked over at Nicholai, their faces mere inches from one another. “Tell me,” he said lowly, the head of the cock slowly pushing in, “have you ever felt this before?” Kayne shook his head. A self-satisfied grin lit up the man’s face. “Good.” The single word had the thick, phantom cock pressing into him, and Kayne couldn’t stop his back from bowing at the pleasurable burn. “So beautiful,” he whispered in his ear, his tongue burning a path up the side of his neck. “Tell me, is it my cock inside you now?” Said cock thrust in sharply, seeming to bottom out, before pulling out then repeating the action. At Kayne’s garbled cry, Nicholai chuckled and watched as Kayne’s hips undulated on the seat. “It would seem so.” Kayne’s muscles were burning, his toes and fingers tingling, as a fire lit at the base of his cock. It was nearly painful as his cock strained against his jeans. He was so damn close. His panting breaths mixed with the nasty words Nicholai growled into his ear, and his hips bucked faster and faster as if he were riding an actual cock.
Suddenly, Nicholai went silent and Kayne cried out in frustration at the abrupt emptiness. There was an irritating tickle against the back of his neck that told him Josh was speaking, but he
could only focus on the blood rushing behind his ears as he watched Nicholai climb out of the car. Kayne felt disappointed and unsatisfied. He was being left, hard as a rock, without so much as a goodbye.
“Come.” The single word teasingly caressed his aching cock, and Kayne looked up into lust blown eyes.
Without a single thought, he scrambled out of the car, and obediently followed Nicholai up the driveway. When the front door snapped shut behind him, and he was unceremoniously slammed against it, Kayne couldn’t help but be grateful for his condition for the first time in his life.